AI-Native Indie Distributionrelease lab

Asset guide builder.

Once a release needed a master, a photo, and cover art. Now the campaign may need vertical loops, Shorts, Reels, thumbnails, EPK photos, lyrics, stems, merch mockups, sync notes, and public/private boundaries. This builder sizes the job before it gets silly.

Basic

Master, cover, metadata, link, simple approval.

Medium

Platform polish, lyrics, credits, captions, one vertical asset.

High

Video, press image, website page, sync/licensing review.

Hyper

Variants, cutdowns, automation briefs, audience feedback loops.

Max

Full release world: merch, physical, live, press, sync, archive.

Map

Asset families before platform chaos

The platform list only makes sense after the asset families are clear. A campaign can need audio masters, still images, motion, copy, metadata, rights notes, merch, live assets, and agent folders.

Audio

WAV, MP3 review, instrumentals, clean edits, stems, cutdowns, BPM/key, lyrics, ISRC/UPC.

Artwork

3000 square master, social crops, thumbnails, headers, artist photos, web-safe exports.

Video

Vertical, landscape, square, Canvas loops, captions, thumbnails, safe zones, hook timestamps.

Metadata

Credits, descriptions, moods, themes, provenance, disclosure, alt text, negative tags.

Press and web

Release page, EPK, bios, press photos, contact path, email copy, QR destination.

Merch and physical

Mockups, print files, product copy, supplier specs, stock risk, shipping, bundle notes.

Live and local

Posters, venue blurbs, backing tracks, set notes, merch table, QR support links.

Agent operations

Folder manifest, public/private boundary, status labels, source notes, human approval gates.

01 How big is this campaign?

Choose the level honestly. Basic is not a failure; it is often the healthiest release shape.

02 What marketing strategy are we preparing for?

Select the actual lanes, not every shiny possibility.

03 Which platforms matter this time?

The output will include working size and file-format targets for the selected platforms.

04 What personal preferences constrain the asset list?

This prevents the guide from becoming an infinite punishment machine.

05 What already exists, and what is missing?

This lets an agent compare the required checklist against the real folder.

Specs

Comprehensive working format matrix

Use these as practical planning targets, then verify the live upload form before final delivery. Platform rules and distributor wrappers change.

Core

Distributor/DSP package

Final WAV, 3000 x 3000 cover JPG/PNG, title, artist, credits, explicit status, release date, ISRC/UPC, lyrics status, approval note.

Audio

Alternate music files

Instrumental, clean, explicit, radio edit, live edit, acapella, stems, 15/30/60 second edits, BPM/key, lyric sheet.

Image

Cover and social crops

3000 x 3000 master, 1080 x 1080 square, 1080 x 1350 portrait, 1080 x 1920 story frame, WebP/JPG compressed web copies.

Profile

Artist and press images

2400 x 2400 artist image where needed, 800 x 800 minimum fallback, high-resolution press JPG/PNG, wide banner/header where useful.

Spotify

Spotify assets

Cover through distributor, Canvas 9:16, 3-8 seconds, 720-1080 px tall, MP4 or JPG, plus pitch notes, profile bio, and artist image.

Apple

Apple Music assets

Cover art via distributor, artist image 2400 x 2400 preferred / 800 x 800 minimum, JPG/PNG, lyrics and credits cleanly prepared.

YouTube

YouTube video package

1920 x 1080 landscape MP4, AAC audio, H.264, thumbnail 1280 x 720, Shorts/cutdowns square or vertical up to the current Shorts limit.

Shorts

Vertical video shared target

1080 x 1920, 9:16, MP4/MOV, captions readable, interface-safe text, hook timestamp, loop point, thumbnail frame.

Instagram

Instagram crops

Reels/story 1080 x 1920, feed square 1080 x 1080, feed portrait 1080 x 1350, JPG/PNG for stills, MP4/MOV for video.

TikTok

TikTok assets

1080 x 1920 preferred, 9:16 vertical, MP4/MOV/MPEG/3GP/AVI accepted in ad contexts, hook cutdowns and caption-safe framing.

Bandcamp

Bandcamp release

Square album art, 1400 x 1400 minimum practical baseline, 3000 x 3000 master preferred, lyrics, credits, bonus files, pricing, supporter message.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud profile

Track/profile image at least 800 x 800 JPG/PNG, up to 2 MB; header working target 2480 x 520 JPG/PNG.

Website

Release page

Cover art, audio/video embed, lyrics, credits, provenance note, contact, support link, structured metadata, alt text, compressed WebP/JPG.

Email

Newsletter

1200 px wide hero/banner, 1080 square fallback, light file sizes, short copy, long copy, subject lines, one clean link.

Press

EPK

Short bio, long bio, release notes, artwork, approved photos, links, contact, private listen link, public-safe and private versions.

Sync

Sync/licensing review

WAV, instrumental, clean/explicit, stems, alt mixes, edit lengths, BPM/key, lyric themes, rights owner summary, restrictions.

Merch

Merch and bundles

High-resolution source art, mockups, product photos, size chart, supplier specs, price, shipping, refund, preorder/stock risk notes.

Physical

CD/cassette/vinyl/zine

Supplier template, 300 dpi source, bleed/trim/spine, front/back/insert, tracklist proof, barcode/UPC plan, manufacturing notes.

Live

Live/local activation

Poster A3/A4 PDF, square/vertical social exports, venue blurb, backing tracks, stage notes, merch table list, QR support link.

Agents

Agent-ready folder

/audio, /artwork, /video, /copy, /metadata, /licensing, /merch, /public, /private, manifest.md, approval gates.

Check

Verify before final export

The guide gives strong working targets, but upload forms change. Final agents should check the current official platform rules before delivery.

Spotify Canvas guidelines Apple Music artist image guidelines Apple Music digital packaging YouTube thumbnail help YouTube upload encoding YouTube Shorts notes TikTok video ad specs SoundCloud track artwork